Vehicle top



A. 's. CHESTON.

VEHICLE TOP. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 29, I920- Patented Apr. 25, 1922.

2 SHEETSS,HEET 1.

A. S. CHESTON.

VEHICLETOP.

APPLICATION FILED mmze, 1920.

1,414,178, Patnted Apnzs, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- UNITED STA ES ARTHUR s. cHEsr'on, or izralvrmeimivr, ENGLAN VEHICLE TOP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filefi'lanuary 29, 1920. Serial No. 354,857.

Toull whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR .SAM CHES- TON, subject of the King of-Great Britain, residing at Birmingham, England, have mvented certain new and useful Improvements 7 in'Vehicle Tops, of whlch vehicles wherein the'cant-rails of the head framing are hinged to vertical 'folding pillars, so that the whole can be folded back and collapsed at the rear of the vehicle; thecant-rails being connected to thesaid pillars by means of hinged or jointed l1nks,'one of which is extended beyond its pivot and connected to a back stay or radius member pivoted to the frame of the vehicle, so that the raising and lowering of the pillar automatically effects the opening out or contraction of the cant-rail. v

Heretofore the cant-rail and pillar have generally consisted of Wooden 'members forming integral parts of the head frame, and the links and metalparts have had to be attached to these members and to, the vehicle frame by the body builders, the correct fitting of the'said parts frequently involving considerable experiments and ad ustment of the centres in order to obtain the proper operation of the device to suit the particular design of vehicle.

It has been proposed, however, to construct a hood fitting as a single article or unit complete in itself, ready for attachment to the vehicle, and comprising a vertical plllar bar (to which the wooden pillar can beattached) connected .to a horizontal bar (to which the wooden cant-rail. can be attached) by means of a link and through the medium. of the forward end of a top -member pivoted to the pillar bar and to the said cant-rail bar, but no back stay or radius member connected to the link member has been provided in this prior arrangement.

According to the present invention a vertical metal pillar member (to which the wooden pillar can be secured) is connected by links to a horizontal metal cant-rail member (to which the wooden cant-rail can be Patented A151 ;25,1922.

lower end of the pillar member both being pivoted'to a common base or bracket adapted to beattached to the vehicle frame, so that the said rear stay forms a part of the selfcontalned unit, which can be applied to the of the centres by the bodybuilders.

v The horizontal member to which the cantrail is to be attached is preferably'in the the upper link members: 7 Figure 1 of theaccompanying drawings is aside elevation of the improved automatic contracting cant-rail and pillar unit, the same being shown in the position when the head is closed; 1 g

Figure 2 shows the positions the parts assume when thehead is being folded back and the cant-rail member contracted.

b Figure 3 is a plan of the cant-rail memer. a i Figure 4.- represents a cross-section through the pillar member on line m, Figure 1.

Figure 5' is a section through the cant-rail member on line m, Figure 1: i Figures 6 and 7 illustrate modifications.

Referring to Figures 1 to 5, the. vertical pillar member 1 (to which the wooden pillar is adapted to be secured) consists of a length of angle-iron pivoted at its lower end at 2 to the vertical part of an L-shaped base vehicle without any adjustment or, setting bracket 3 adapted to be secured to therbody of the vehicle by any suitable means. The. cant-rail 4, which, is adapted to be attached to the, head frame by any suitable means, consists of a metal channel connected to the pillar 1 by toggle links 5, 6, and, in addition, by a horizontal link 7 pivoted to the upper end of the pillar, and by a downwardly extending cranked link 8. This link 8 is pivoted to the inner end of the cant-rail and passes through a slot 9 in one'of theflanges of the pillar, being pivoted to the latter at, 10 and being extended below the pivot in the form of a short arm' ll which is jointed to the upper end of the back stay or radius member'lQ. The lower end of the said back stay is pivoted at 13 to the rear end of the horizontal portion of the base bracket 3. p The cant-rail 4E encloses the links 5, 6, 7 when the head is extended, and the-one side is gapped at 14 to receive the stop piece 15 'on'the end ofthe link 6;

It will thus be seen that the whole arrangement forms a self-contained unit which can be readily applied: to the vehicle body without any adjustment or setting of the centres.

In the form illustrated in Figure" 6, the

Or, as shown in Figure 7, instead of the plunger 16 being connected to the pillar member by a link, it may carry a roller-19 bearing upon the underside of abracket 18 on the pillar. 7

'Having fully described my invention,

what I desire to claim and secure by Letters Patent is v 1. A vehicle top comprising a vertical metallic pillar member to which the wooden pillar can be secured, ahorizontallydisposed metallic cant-rail member to which the wooden cant-rail can be attached, links connectingsaid pillar member and cant-rail to form a complete unit, a rigid non-collapsible rear'stay member connected to one of said links, and a common base or bracket adapted to be attached to the vehicle frame, said rigid rear stay and pillar members being pivotally connected to said bracket so that the rear stay member forms part of the complete unit ready to be fitted as such to the vehicle body. 7 7 2.- A vehicle top comprising a vertical metal pillar member, a horizontal channelsectioned metal cant-rail member, links connecting the pillar member to the cant-rail member said links being adapted-to lie within thechannel-sectioned cant-rail member, l

a rear stay connected to one of the links, and a base member to which the lower ends of the pillar member and rear stay are pivoted,

the wholeforming a self-contained unit.

8. A vehicle top comprising a vertical pillar member, a horizontally disposed cant-- rail member, toggle links connecting the pillar member to the cant-rail towardthe forward end-of the latter, a crankedlink intermediately pivoted on said pillar memsaid cant-railat therear end thereof, a rear stay pivotally connected to the other end of said cranked link, a link pivotally connected to said pillar member and an intermediate portion of said cant-rail, and a base member to which the lower ends of the pillar member and rear stay are pivoted.

ber and pivotally connected at one end to In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing wit.-

IIBSSGS.

ARTHUR s. oH sToN. I 1

Witnesses: l

H. N. SHERRETT, V COL. SHERRETT. 2 l' 

